The Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson last night won the Republican nomination to stay in office, and is on track to keep it after President-elect Donald Trump also endorsed him, the Associated Press reported, citing BTA.
Although Johnson has not faced a serious challenger, he faces dissent within his party, particularly from the hard right and conservatives who refuse to vote with their colleagues to receive promises of future cooperation , the agency notes.
During his first visit to Washington since his party won the election earlier this month, Trump told House Republicans that he fully supports the speaker.
Johnson, for his part, showered Trump with praise and called him the “comeback king”.
Johnson's journey to this point has been remarkable, the AP points out. More than a year ago, his candidacy was initially floated as a last chance to replace ousted former chairman Kevin McCarthy, and Johnson quickly positioned himself to support Trump and leading Republicans in this year's election.
Meanwhile, several polls indicated that the Republican Party is gaining a majority there as well. A simultaneous forecast in this direction was given by the center for sociological studies "Edison Research" and the American television channels CNN and NBC, quoted by DPA, Reuters and BTA.
The prediction of "Edison Research" indicates that congressmen from the Republican Party will be at least 218, which guarantees them a majority of votes in the 435-seat House of Representatives of the US Congress, according to Reuters. "Edison Research" takes into account that there are still nine places where the counting of votes from the November 5 presidential election in the USA has not been completed.
The Republicans already have a majority in the upper house - the Senate, and today they chose John Thune as their leader there. GOP senators have secured at least 52 of the 48 seats against Democrats with one count remaining.
Trump's biggest achievement during his first term as President Trump has been the sweeping tax cuts, with the measure expiring next year. This legislation and the $1 trillion infrastructure investment law signed by Democrat President Joe Biden came into effect at a time when their parties controlled both houses of the US Congress, Reuters notes.